A special group is made by the so-called Present-Preterite verbs, which are conjugated combining two varieties of the usual verb conjugation: strong and weak. These verbs, at all not more than seven, are nowadays called modal verbs in English.
Present-Preterite verbs have their Present tense forms generated from the Strong Past, and the Past tense, instead, looks like the Present Tense of the Weak verbs. The verbs we present here are the following: witan (to know), cunnan (can), þurfan (to need), dearan (to dare), munan (to remember), sculan (shall), magan (may).
Present of witan (= strong Past)
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg. 1 wát -
2 wast } wite wite
3 wát -
Pl. witon 2 witen witaþ
Past (= Weak)
Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 wisse, wiste
2 wissest, wistest } wisse, wiste
3 wisse, wiste
Pl. wisson, wiston wissen, wisten
Participles: I witende, II witen, gewiten
cunnan (can)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 cann cúþe
2 canst } cunne cúþest } cúþe
3 cann cúþe
Pl. cunnon cunnen cúþon cúþen
þurfan (need)
Sg. 1 þearf þorfte
2 þearft } þurfe þorftest } þorfte
3 þearf þorfte
Pl. þurfon þurfen þorfton þorften
dearan (dare)
Sg. 1 dear dorste
2 dearst } durre dorstest } dorste
3 dear dorste
Pl. durron durren dorston dorsten
sculan (shall)
Sg. 1 sceal sceolde
2 scealt } scule sceoldost } sceolde
3 sceall sceolde
Pl. sculon sceoldon sceolden
munan (remember)
Sg. 1 man munde
2 manst } mune mundest } munde
3 man munde
Pl. munon munen mundon
magan (may)
Sg. 1 mæg meahte mihte, mihten
2 meaht } mæge meahtest
3 mæg meahte
Pl. magon mægen meahton
The main difference of verbs of this type in modern English is their expressing modality, i.e. possibility, obligation, necessity. They do not require the particle to before the infinitive which follows them. In Old English in general no verb requires this particle before the infinitive. In fact, this to before the infinitive form meant the preposition of direction.
And now finally a few irregular verbs, which used several different stems for their tenses. These verbs are very important in Old English and are met very often in the texts: wesan (to be), béon (to be), gán (to go), dón (to do), willan (will). Mind that there was no Future tense in the Old English language, and the future action was expressed by the Present forms, just sometimes using verbs of modality, willan (lit. "to wish to do") or sculan (lit. "to have to do").
wesan (to be) - has got only the Present tense forms, uses the verb béon in the Past
Present
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg.1 eom -
2 eart } síe, sý wes
3 is -
Pl. sind síen, sýn 2 wesaþ
béon (to be)
Present
Ind. Subj. Imp.
Sg. 1 béo -
2 bist }béo béo
3 biþ -
Pl. béoþ béon 2 béoþ
Past
Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 wæs
2 wære } wære
3 wæs
Pl. wæron wæren
Participle I is béonde (being).
gán (to go)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 gá - éode
2 gæ'st } gá gá éodest } éode
3 gæ'þ - éode
Pl. gáþ 2 gán gáþ éodon éoden
Participles:
I gánde, gangende II gegán
dón (to do)
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Imp. Ind. Subj.
Sg. 1 dó - dyde
2 dést } dó dó dydest } dyde
3 déþ - dyde
Pl. dóþ dón 2 dóþ dydon dyden
Participles:
I dónde II gedón
willan
Pres. Past
Ind. Subj. Ind. Subj.
Sg.1 wille wolde
2 wilt } wille woldest } wolde
3 wile wolde
Pl. willaþ willen woldon wolden
Participle I willende
So there were in fact two verbs meaning 'to be', and both were colloquial. In Middle English, however, the verb wesan replaced fully the forms of béon, and the words béo (I am), bist (thou art) fell out of use. The Past tense forms was and were are also derivatives from wesan.
A little bit more about Old English tenses. Syntactically, the language had only two main tenses - the Present and the Past. No progressive (or Continuous) tenses were used, they were invented only in the Early Middle English period. Such complex tenses as modern Future in the Past, Future Perfect Continuous did not exist either. However, some analytic construction were in use, and first of all the perfective constructions. The example Hie geweorc geworhten hæfdon 'they have build a fortress' shows the exact Perfect tense, but at that time it was not the tense really, just a participle construction showing that the action has been done. Seldom you can also find such Past constructions, which later became the Past Perfect Tense.
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